Van Zyl, born in Outjo, Namibia, received his first degree in electrical engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa in 1979, elaborated on Curiosity rover’s landing on Mars on Tuesday August 6th, 2012. The Mars Science Laboratory mission successfully placed the one-ton Curiosity Rover on the surface of Mars, about one mile from the centre of its 12-mile-long target area.

“Within the first eight months of a planned 23-month primary mission, Curiosity met its major science objective of finding evidence of a past environment well-suited to support microbial life,” explained van Zyl.

“After landing, NASA’s Curiosity Rover, continued on its extraordinary journey across landscapes that are both utterly alien, and remarkably familiar,” said van Zyl.